Help Fundraise for the DMV Democracy Learning Community

Thanks for your interest in helping to fundraise for the DMV Democracy Learning Community (DLC), and spread participatory democracy in our nation’ capital region!  This brief guide to peer-to-peer fundraising should help you advance toward whatever fundraising goal you set.

Your network can help expand our reach and capacity in the DC region, which is why peer-to-peer (PTP) fundraising is important.  PTP fundraising means asking people you already know — friends, family, extended family, neighbors, current or past work colleagues, classmates, and others — to support a cause you and we believe in: spreading participation in democracy to nurture more caring, connected and capable citizens, more responsive government, and a more caring world.

You don’t need to be a professional fundraiser. Your personal connection to the mission is what makes your request for support more powerful.

Your fundraising helps pay for the DLC’s growth and activities: the DMV Democracy Dinners, Democracy Festival, and the Youth Summit on Youth Policymaking.  The funds you raise go to:

  1. Labor: We are grateful to have many volunteers to help with our work, but like many nonprofits, we still need paid staff to recruit and manage the volunteers, and to run and grow our organization.
  2. Materials: Food, printing, space rentals, software, raffle prizes, etc.
How to Fundraise in Four Steps

1. Make a List: Make an initial list of 10-20 people in your network, then gradually expand out to more people, including acquaintances, as needed to help you reach your fundraising goal.  Ask yourself: who cares about youth, education, democracy, community, and/or the DC region?  Start with friends, family and current or former colleagues, but don’t be afraid to contact acquaintances you know care about these topics.  One benefit of fundraising is that it can help you connect, reconnect and deepen relationships by talking about issues you and your connections care about.

2. Decide on Your Outreach Process: Will you send emails and social media messages first, then follow up with phone calls?   Will you text first, then follow up with email and phone call?  You decide what is appropriate, but keep in mind three things.  First, the more “touches,” that is, multiple exposures to your message, including emails, texts, calls, social media messages, in person conversations, the more likely people are to respond.  Second, tailoring your messages to each individual will generally elicit more replies than mass emails and social media messages, though you might start with the latter first to let people know you are fundraising for the DLC.  Third, people respond most to in-person or live online asks, then phone conversations, then other less direct and personal methods like emails, texts and social media messages, so we encourage you to make your fundraising fun and in person.  You may wish to invite people out to coffee, tea, dessert, dinner, a walk, or hold a group potluck or Democracy Dessert at your home.

Every conversation you have can do two things: raise money and introduce a new person to the DLC.  Both matter.

3. Craft Your Ask: You can get template emails, call scripts and social media messages from Learning Life staff, but please feel free to adjust them as you see fit.  For email and in spoken conversation, at least, the more personal, the better.  Explain why got involved with Learning Life, and how you came to care about democracy.  You might discuss how democracy, or the lack thereof, impacts your family or community and its future, or why widening participation in democracy matters to you.  Remember you are not just asking people to give to Learning Life, but to invest in a more participatory democracy.

One short, personal paragraph suffices, best placed at or near the beginning of your email or conversation, then you can include and adjust Learning Life’s template fundraising messages as needed.  Make sure your giving ask is specific.  Don’t simply say, “Please support Learning Life.” Instead specify a range of donation amounts: “I recently gave….Would you please join me and contribute $50, $100, $250, $500, or whatever amount you can afford?”

4. Follow up and thank: Be patient.  Most if not all your initial asks may not get replies, especially if you start with mass or even individualized emails, texts and social media messages, so follow up is important.  Then, if you learn that someone has given via your peer-to-peer fundraising page, make sure to thank them personally, and invite them to take part in DLC activities.

Thank you for helping Learning Life spread participatory democracy in our nation’s capital region!